


The Drums of the City Rain

by s0fter_sin



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Guard!Dwalin, M/M, Nori Is A Good Brother, Pre-Canon, Thief!Nori, Understandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23220031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s0fter_sin/pseuds/s0fter_sin
Summary: Of all the nights for the Captain of the Guard to be on his ass, he had to pick tonight didn’t he?
Relationships: it’s a surprise - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Drums of the City Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t really know what this is, the first line popped into my head and wouldn’t stop bugging me until I gave it a story.
> 
> Title is from Brother by Gerard Way!

_Shit_ , Nori chanted as his boots clattered on the cobblestones. _Shit shit shit._ He took a hard right and heard some of the guards skid past the ally. But not the captain, of course not, that would just be too easy wouldn’t it?

“Get back here you little bastard!” Dwalin roared. Nori could swear he felt his breath on the back of his neck. 

“Now why would I do that?” he called back cheekily as he slid under an abandoned cart. He looked back in time to see Dwalin vault over the cart while the remaining two guards plowed straight into it. _Pathetic_ , he chuckled. How the older dwarf could catch anyone with such useless underlings was beyond him. _Oh well, just makes it that much easier._

He kept running, he knew if he just went left down the next street he could lose the guardsman in the marketplace. 

_There!_

Nori barrelled past a dwarrowdam and her son and threw himself into the throng of bodies, slowing down after making it past a few groups. Running now would just draw unwanted attention to himself. He allowed himself to melt into the crowd, gently moving through it while they distracted themselves with jewellery and fire crackers. 

_Everyone here would be such an easy mark_ , he mused. No one was paying attention to anyone around them, too immersed in the finery and entertaining wares presented to them. Exactly the type of environment he thrived in. _But not today,_ Nori reminded himself, _only one thing matters today_. 

Head tilted slightly down, he ran his hand over the contents of his pocket, breathing out a sigh of relief at feeling it unbroken. The last thing the thief needed was for that little stunt to be rendered useless; he had a deadline after all. 

He felt a familiar presence behind him a split second before a knuckle duster encumbered hand gripped the back of his coat. 

_Uh oh_. 

“Got you, rat”, Dwalin growled, and Nori could feel himself being picked up and dragged down a gap between two stalls, heading for an empty ally behind the marketplace. The crowd parted quickly, no one wanting the hinder the murderous looking dwarf. 

“Oi, get your bloody hands off me!” he struggled to get loose but the captain had a good hold on him. “This is guard brutality ya know!”

“Oh, you don’t wanna see brutal tonight, thief”, he replied and spun Nori around and shoved him against the building, forearm against his throat. “Next time you want to blend in, try a different hairstyle”. 

“I would say the same to you but, well...” Nori raised his eyebrows even as he internally winced. _That’s right, piss of the guy that’s got you pinned, you self-destructive moron_. 

Dwalin glowered and pressed harder into the dwarrow’s throat. “Oh you’ll pay fer that, ya brat”. He raised his other hand and Nori tensed for a blow, but he just started rifling his hands through his numerous pockets. 

“Not the best night to get frisky don’tcha think?” Nori wiggled to try and keep them away from his hard fought reward. 

The guardsman just rolled his eyes and held him firmer, continuing his search, until he found the rolled up bundle the younger dwarf had worked so hard to steal. 

“Now, what’s this then?” Dwalin mocked as he waved the item. 

“Would you believe me if I said I’d never seen it before?” Nori started panicking a little, trying to think of a way he could get loose and take his prize back. If he lost that now he was screwed, there was no way he could get another before tomorrow. And if he turned up empty handed...

“I’d believe that abou’ as much as the last time ya tried it on me”, Dwalin remarked disdainfully as he unravelled the cloth. He moved to box Nori in with his legs and took his arm away, letting the item drop in this calloused hand. 

He froze. “Nori...” he trailed off as he looked up and Nori sagged, letting the wall hold him up. 

“What else was I supposed to do Dwalin?” he sighed. “I couldn’t get it legally, I doubt even you could afford it. This is the only thing he wants. So this is what he’s gettin’”. 

“There has to have been another way. What if Dori..” he hesitated, as he rolled the bottle between his hands. 

“Dori is barely paying his rent”, Nori spat. “He saved for months for his gift, I’m not gonna make him pay more than he has to and help with mine”. 

Dwalin sighed and stepped back, still looking down at the bottle. Nori didn’t even bother looking to mouth of the ally; what was the point in getting away without it if it just ruined his little brother’s special day. 

The guardsman shook his head ruefully. “As much as it pains me to say it, you have more heart than most people I know”. 

Nori’s head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes. “What?”

Dwalin chuckled and rubbed his mouth. “Seven months Ori’s been talking about this. I swear, he talks about it more than tomorrow. Every night, he talks about something new he could do with this, even though he knows he could never afford it”. 

The thief regarded him suspiciously, not understanding where he was going with this. “Yeah, well, ya know how he gets about his craft”. 

“Mmm, I do” he hummed. “Never more of a spark in his eyes then when he talks abou’ this”. 

Dwalin raised his eyes from the bottle and studied Nori. He seemed to come to a decision as he nodded slightly and offered the bottle. 

Nori felt his mouth drop open. He was sure he looked like an idiot but he’d never been more shocked in his life. “You... can’t be serious?”

“You mention it again and I’ll knock your teeth out”, the guardsman deadpanned. He wiggled the bottle. “Take it. It’ll mean the world to Ori, and I care more abou’ that than some uppity shop keep”. 

Nori finally snapped his mouth shut and pushed away from the wall. He didn’t really want to push it but... “That bottle is worth more than what you get in a year”, he pointed out. 

“And no one will appreciate it like Ori will”, Dwalin said solemnly. “Better it go to him than sit on some rich bastard’s shelf”. 

Nori finally reached out and took the bottle, examining it to make sure the cork hadn’t come loose. The blackest and most coveted ink to come out in the last age. Ori had almost cried when the elves had discovered it; had talked for hours about the things he could draw with it, the depth he could put into his works. When the price was announced he didn’t speak about it for a whole week; didn’t draw anything either.  
Never before had Nori seen his brother so upset. So he asked around, talked to his contacts and his contact’s contacts and did favours for anyone he could think of until he finally managed to track down a bottle of it. He would do anything to get a bottle of this to put that light back in his baby brother’s eye. 

Nori’s eyes flittered back to Dwalin. He knew the guardsman cared for his brother, wouldn’t be going through with tomorrow if he didn’t, but to do this; to recognise this as what is was instead of just a petty theft... He felt a growing respect for him. 

So he swallowed his pride and said “Thank you” with as much sincerity as he could muster. 

Dwalin nodded and gestured, “Now get out of here before I come to my senses”. 

Nori snorted and carefully placed the ink back in his pocket. “You know you love me Dwalin. Why, we’re almost family!”

Nori ducked Dwalin’s swipe to his head and started walking backwards, “Careful now, if I turn up tomorrow with knuckle duster shaped bruises, Dori will have both of our asses”. He turned and sashayed away. 

“Nori!” Dwalin called out and he crossed his arms, “make sure you’re not late.”

“Please”, he drawled, “when have I ever been late to anythin’?”

‘Sides, it’s not every day your little brother gets married, is it?

**Author's Note:**

> Is the ink vantablack? Could be. Is the rich bastard Anish Kapoor? I’m not saying it’s not.
> 
> I’ve never written anything this physical or interactive and while I’m not 100% sold on the ending, I’m pretty proud of it!


End file.
